A Candle's Glow
by Aracertariel
Summary: Love isn't like a tin of biscuits, where the more people there are, the less there is to go around.


None of the recognizable characters or settings belong to me!

I started writing this ages ago, when it was between seasons and we hadn't yet learned the effects that Demon's Run had on Amy. Wow, it's been a while. But now it's done. And fluff. It is fluff.

* * *

It was Christmas-time, and River knew that Mum liked when she showed up for Christmas. And then there's always the chance of the Doctor showing up as well. It was Christmas, after all.

She rang the doorbell, wondering just how long it had been since she had seen her parents last. She was a good sight more accurate than the Doctor in traveling when and where she meant to, but she only had a vortex manipulator to work with. It wasn't exactly a Tardis.

River could hear someone coming to the door and couldn't help grinning. She'd gotten another silly hat for her dad. (He always wore them. It was sort of an inside joke.) And for her mum, River had found an Andorian scarf that would change colours with her mood– she was sure that she was going to love it. But, of course, they would both say that the best surprise was that she had come to visit. And at Christmas, no less! No need to tell them that she'd just come from New Years and had decided to loop back and repeat the holiday season.

The doorknob turned and the door swung open, and Amy was standing in the warm light from the house. "River!" she exclaimed happily. And she was beaming. She was glowing. She...

It took River a moment to realize it, and when she did her grin slipped just a little, though she tried not to let Amy see. Amy was very, very pregnant.

Amy was so very hugely pregnant that River wondered why she hadn't noticed it immediately. But mostly, she felt... She wasn't sure quite what she felt, but suddenly a second holiday season didn't seem so grand as it had a moment ago.

Still. River tacked her smile back in place. "I can't stay, but I wanted to drop off your presents."

"That's rubbish!" Amy said. "You're a time traveler. If the fate of the universe isn't at stake, and I mean right this very minute, then you've got time to come in and visit with your mum and dad at Christmas." Amy could tell something was wrong though. River didn't _want_ to come in.

"Sorry," River mumbled, shoving the gifts at her Mum and turning away.

"River? River, come back!" She pretended not to hear Amy calling after her. She kept walking down the street. She had gone all of a block before she heard anything else.

" _River_!" It was her Dad. And he was using his Last Centurion voice. She stopped, but didn't turn to face him. She was trying to stop crying and get her face in order before he caught up. Because she's _River bloody Song_. And she Does. Not. Cry.

"What's the _matter_ with you?" Rory asked. And River could tell he was furious. She was reminded that this was the man who stood guard, defending his wife for 2000 years against Greeks and Romans and German bombs and treasure hunters and archeologists. "You've left your mum crying. You can't show up out of nowhere after two years and then just dash off again! She thinks you're mad at her!"

River hadn't managed to stop crying yet. It didn't help any that she wasn't really sure why she was. A sniffle escaped her, and an embarrassing, squeaky little hiccup. Rory wasn't angry any more – just worried. Amy had been having mood swings, and he was more than a little familiar with the sound of her trying to not cry. River sounded just the same.

"What's the matter?" he asked, and he was using his Dad voice now. He turned her around and hugged her. "What's the matter, sweetie?" River put her head on his shoulder and cried. She wished that she were ten and could crawl up on her dad's lap and he'd make everything better like dads are supposed to. But that opportunity was long gone and it wasn't coming back.

Still, when Rory took her hand and lead her back to the house, River followed quietly.

When Amy saw her daughter's tear-streaked face, she turned to Rory and punched him in the arm. "Stupid face! I didn't say to make her cry!"

"Ow!" he exclaimed, rubbing the injured arm. "I didn't! She was like that already!" And then Amy was sniffling again. Then River started. Rory looked back and forth between them in a sort of panic.

"Oh, go make some tea or hot chocolate or something," Amy said, wiping tears away from her eyes.

"Right. Tea. Chocolate. Got it." Given the opportunity, Rory fled to the kitchen.

"Stupid face," Amy said fondly, before she turned back to her daughter with a stern expression. "Now then. _You_ , missy, are going to tell me what's going on."

River tried to school her expression into something nonchalant, but mostly ended up looking utterly lost and miserable.

"Oof," Amy said, grimacing and putting a hand on her stomach. "Baby's kicking. Do you want to feel?" Amy grabbed River's wrist. River instinctively pulled away and then immediately regretted the reaction as she saw the emotions flickering across her mother's face – surprise, hurt, sadness, and finally thoughtfulness and understanding. River turned away. She didn't want to contemplate what Amy thought she understood. Amy's hand rested on River's shoulder, more hesitant than any mother's should have to be.

"River. Melody."

River turned back, collapsing into her mum's hug. Amy stroked her hair. For a moment they were like any other mother and daughter.

"I wish things weren't so complicated with us, sweetheart," Amy said softly. "You're so grown up and cool that sometimes I forget that you were also the little girl in the spacesuit, scared the monsters were coming. But I never, _never_ forget that you are _mine_. My baby. And I will always love you."

"I loved you first day I met you – when you were a wild and angry little girl who couldn't stop running her mouth and getting herself into trouble. You were my best friend aside from your dad."

"I did like being Mel," River mumbled into Amy's shoulder.

Amy gave a watery laugh. "I loved you so much that I named my daughter after you. Because I was so afraid of losing her. Of losing you. And I wanted you to be that strong, and that fierce. I wanted you to be wild when you needed to be, and brave enough to run your mouth when someone needed standing up to. And then I met River Song. And she was cool and amazing, and so brave. I admired her."

"When you were born, and I first held you, I had never seen anything more precious. And my darling little girl, you are still that precious to me. You have grown up strong and fierce and brave and clever, and I am so proud of you. What more could a mother want for her little girl?"

"Then why –" River cut off her question abruptly. It was rude and thoughtless and selfish. They hadn't gotten to raise her at all; of course they would want another baby.

Rory returned then, with hot chocolate all around. And also some candles and a box of matches. River looked at him curiously, wondering what he was planning.

"What you're going through is absolutely normal," Rory said. "We just didn't think to expect it since you're already grown up."

Amy nodded. "Just because we're having another kid doesn't mean we'll love you any less, River. Love isn't like a tin of biscuits where the more people there are, the less there is to go around." Rory lit one of the candles and passed it to Amy as he stood to turn out the lights. "It's like a candle's glow. Even a little bit can light a room."

Rory lit a second candle from Amy's. "The light we have together is brighter than either of us alone." He lit a third candle from his and passed it to River. "And then we had you. Our love didn't lessen just because we had someone else to share it with."

Amy picked up the last candle and reached out to light it from River's. "Having someone new to love won't make us love you any less," she said, smiling at her daughter. "Besides, I bet you'll have fun being the cool big sister."

River couldn't help smiling at that. Because this baby was definitely going to have the coolest big sister ever.

The three of them sat and drank their cocoa by candle light, and the next time the baby kicked, River got to feel it.


End file.
